


Drinking Games

by sambethe



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, some background talk of michael/ash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 19:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambethe/pseuds/sambethe
Summary: They meant to play cards, but then the drinks appeared. With the drinks came the goading, and somehow this has left Tilly on the receiving end of Ash's questionable matchmaking skills.





	Drinking Games

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies? Not really. Pretty much outright fluff friendship nonsense. I assume this is set somewhere between Lethe and Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad. 
> 
> As always, feel free to swing by [tumblr](http://sambethe.rumblr.com) or [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/sambethe) to chat!

“What about her?”

Tilly took a sip of her drink and turned her head in the direction Ash had nodded his chin. Screw subtly. The two of them had left subtlety behind after their first finished drink. At this point they, and their growing collection of empty glasses, were sprawled across a corner of the floor in the forward lounge, heads leant back against the wall and legs stretched out.  

All they had planned for was a few rounds of cards, a chance for Tilly to practice her terrible,  _ terrible _ bluff. Within the first couple of hands, though, the room had changed around them. Music had been added and someone had long ago dimmed the lights, adding in a soft accent of blues and purples to the mix. And then the drinks started appearing.

Tilly was hard-pressed to complain. The distraction from everything felt good.  _ She _ felt good. The buzz in her head felt good. She just needed one more thing to feel really, really good.

Though that also might be her third drink talking.

She had no idea what she had even been drinking. That maybe should have been a question she asked when the first one was handed to her, but it was pretty. Most of what was in the glass was pale yellow, but at the center was a burst of bright orange that was slowly bleeding through the rest of the drink. It tasted sweet and made her smile. Plus it had one of those cute little paper umbrellas and a straw, so it couldn’t be that bad. 

That was definitely some A+ sound logic, if she did say so herself.

With the lounge dark and bathed in an ethereal blue glow, when she squinted she could almost pretend she was somewhere besides Discovery. Shore leave -- somewhere exotic and beachy, somewhere she might be brave enough to talk someone into her bed.

Her eyes landed on Darcy Philips. Blond, long legs. She had a killer smile that Tilly adored. She was also, sadly, dating Seema Khan. 

“The blonde?”

Ash shook his head. “No, the brunette. Black pants. Cream shirt. Nice rack.”

Tilly snorted. “Looks more off-white to me.”

He nudged the toe of her boot with his own. “Not even close to the point. Tell me what you think about her.”

She stuck her tongue at him and took another sip of her drink, chewing on her straw as she watched the woman talking to Darcy. She was short and her legs were slim. She had nice hips and an ass that was certainly worth writing home about. 

If she wanted to give her mother a heart attack.

Come to think of it, she kind of, sort of wished she had the balls. The image of her face when she listened to the message would be worthy of a greeting card.

But just then the woman tilted her head to whisper something to Darcy and Tilly caught sight of her sharp jawline and aquiline nose from behind her hair. That was a profile she’d know anywhere.

“Cat Jordan. Totally pretty. And her hair is great. I wish my hair would do that. But she’s competitive and has kind of a mean streak. Sex with her would be like a terrible team sport -- too much scorekeeping and full of one-upmanship. It’d give me performance anxiety.” Tilly flicked the straw out of her way and knocked back the rest of her drink. “I’m looking for an orgasm, not a rundown of my many deficiencies. If I wanted that, I’d call my mother.”

Ash let out a sharp laugh and she elbowed him.

“Don’t laugh. I want to blow off steam, not give myself a complex. She’s the type who would grade you mid-oral and then give you another evaluation at the end that would serve nothing but to tell you about how she would, and did, do it better. Being in classes with her was a nightmare.”

Ash laughed again. It caused his whole face to go soft and the corners of his eyes to crinkle. She liked this version of him. Relaxed. Happy. His smile clearly radiating from his eyes as well as his mouth. It was the same smile that had half of Discovery’s crew tripping over themselves when they saw him. 

When he caught his breath his expression turned calculating as he continued to watch Cat.

Tilly frowned and kicked at his ankle. “Don’t tell me that that intrigues you.”

“What?” he asked, blinking his eyes and schooling his face into an expression that tried to read as innocent, boyish charm. Tilly was tempted to kick him again, but that would just egg him on. “Maybe I like them bossy.”

Tilly choked and put her drink down before she spilled it. She wondered what he was like at the Academy. He had to have been a menace. Just that right combination of pretty and smart. Competitive but relaxed, both cool and earnest in equal turns. And so utterly unflappable. Tilly wondered if anything ever phased him. 

She narrowed her eyes and shoved at Ash’s arm. “All right, all right. Enough about your predilections, boy wonder. We are supposed to be finding someone for me.” She shifted and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder as she surveyed the room. This shouldn’t be that hard. She just wanted to get laid for the night, ignore everything else for a little while. Somebody here had to fit the bill.

“What about Rogers?”

Tilly’s eyes landed on where Charles Rogers stood across the room in a small group, swaying slightly to the music as one of his friends waved his arms to make some sort of apparently emphatic point. He had nice hair -- dark, thick. It was cut short in the back, but left a little long in the front. It looked tuggable. Too bad he had all the personality of a wet noodle.

“He pretty, but sooooo dull. He talks endlessly. About nothing. And cannot, for the life of him, read a room. And this is me saying that. Last week I had to make up a spore emergency to get him to stop talking long enough so that I could escape after he sat down to eat lunch with me. I could probably strip down naked and he still wouldn’t pay attention to me long enough to get the point. I don’t want to put that much work into getting laid.”

“Ok, definitely not Rogers then. That leaves my choices at zero for three so far. I might need you to help me out here if you want me to play wingman. What are you looking for?”

“Tonight or in general?” She waved her hand. “No, nevermind. Let’s stick with for tonight. Anything more than that will kill this buzz I’ve got going on and I want to enjoy it.”

“Stop stalling, Cadet.”

“I swear I’m not that picky,” she continued. “I just want someone fun who won’t be too weird about it all later.”

Ash wrapped his arm around her shoulder and planted a kiss on her temple. “Fair enough. So we are looking for someone relaxed and easygoing. Not too weird and not self-involved.”

“Maybe not too relaxed. I’d like to not have to do all the work.”

Ash laughed and shot her a mock frown. “Give me some credit here.” 

“Let’s also add in cute. I’d like to like looking at them. Preferably while naked.”

He grinned and tipped his head back, drumming his fingers against his chin. “How about Mendoza then?” 

Tilly followed to where Ash’s focus had landed on Jane Mendoza. She’d recently had her dark hair cut into a bob that flattered her neck and that had nearly driven Tilly to distraction with all sorts of thoughts what it’d be like to kiss her. 

She hummed and Ash’s smile widened. “We have a winner?”

“Let’s not get too excited. I still have to go over and talk to her, and that would require me getting up off this floor.” She groaned and wiggled her toes. “Which may be a bit of its own challenge. So before I try to do that, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“The whole night can’t just be about getting me laid. What about you?”

Ash raised an eyebrow and Tilly frowned at him. 

“Stop that,” she said, flicking at his eyebrow.

He knocked away her hand. “As you said, one of us would need to get off this floor and go talk to someone if there is any hope for either of us. I don’t know that I am inclined to move at the moment.”

Tilly sighed and eyed their empty glasses. She’d kill for someone to bring them another round. “True. But you, you wouldn’t need to do much talking.” She sat up and drew her legs in, then waved her hand vaguely in Ash’s direction. “You just need to smile and say something charming. It wouldn’t take much to convince any one of them to come back to your quarters.”

He raised his eyebrow at her again. 

Pursing her lips, Tilly crossed her arms. “Come on. You know I’m right.”

“I think you greatly exaggerate my game.”

“Oh, please! You know I am right. Or are you avoiding this because Michael isn’t here and she’s the one you’d like to be... “ TIlly paused and tried to find the right word. “Talking to?”

“Where is she anyway?”

“Nice try at casual there, friend.” 

Ash shrugged and gave her a crooked, half-smile.

“When I left our quarters she was doing some Vulcan meditation thing. She tried to explain it -- been hounding me to try it with her, but don’t ask me for more than that. I lost track.”

“Oh. I don’t see her socialize much.”

Tilly shrugged. “It takes some work -- getting her to be comfortable around you. I’m still working on it, to be honest. But it’s worth it, if you ask me. You  _ are _ asking me, right?”

Ash turned away and looked out at the room, but he didn’t seem focused on anything or anyone in particular. A small smile played at his mouth and a twinge of jealousy spiked in Tilly’s gut. Not of Michael, or even Ash per say. He was pretty, and funny. And he was good at listening. She just wished someone would get that look when thinking about her.

“I might be asking,” Ash finally answered, still keeping his attention on the small crowd across the room.

“Might be, huh?”

“Might be.” He gave a small shrug. “What’s her story anyway?”

“Not mine to tell.”

He glanced back to her and gave her a nod. “Fair enough. So we agreed on Mendoza for you, right?”

Part of her toyed with the idea of pressing the Michael topic further, but decided to let it go. Three drinks in was probably not the best time for that conversation. “Yes,” she agreed. 

“You know you are going to need to stand and walk over there, right?"

“I know.” But she still didn’t move.

“Do you need me to go over there for you?” Ash started to sit up and Tilly reached over and pushed him back down. 

“Nope. I can do my own dirty work, thank you.” She stood and straightened out her uniform top. “Don’t think we’re done talking about you and Michael.”

Ash smiled and made a shooing motion in her direction. “Wouldn’t dare. Now go.”

“I mean it.”

“Uh huh. Go.”

“I’m going.”

“I see that.”

Tilly huffed and turned, making her ways towards Mendoza before she lost her nerve and grabbed another drink.


End file.
